Dichotomy
by Jason M. Lee
Summary: G1: Perceptor learns there's more than the scientific side of snow from Jazz.


Disclaimers: _Transformers_ © Hasbro and Takara.

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**Yuki - Dichotomy**

Jason M. Lee

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"Fascinating..." Perceptor murmured quietly, nearly all but oblivious to his surroundings. The surroundings being the covered rocky terrain just beyond where the _Ark_'s rear engines would normally cast its shadow on a sunny day. 

"Watcha lookin' at, Percy?" a certain Porsche chirped, his sudden entrance prompting a startled yelp of surprise from the scientist.

As he waited for his fuel pump to settle back down to normal levels, the red and blue Autobot leveled a light glare at the black and white mech. "Kindly please refrain from approaching behind me unannounced in the future, Jazz. I would also prefer that you would not refer me as 'Percy' as well. Or any other insidious nicknames you and the others have the predisposition to compile on a daily basis."

The Special Ops officer grinned cheekily. "Right, right. My bad. So, what were you lookin' at?"

Knowing his admonishment was going to be useless against a mech such as Jazz, Perceptor decided to drop it. "Investigating the crystalline structure of this cold and white material. Quite fascinating, in that each minute crystal are all approximately the same size and are of a hexagonal profile, although I have yet to discover any that appear identical. Add in the data that they quickly turn into a liquid form when a small amount of heat is applied, such as the exhaust from my vents or my hand. I am also able to discern slight audible sounds when I apply pressure onto it, comparable to that of ice being crunched on but to some extent different."

"Ah, it's jus' snow."

Blue optics performed the Cybertronian equivalent of blinking. "Snow?"

"Ayup. Terrific stuff in a lot of ways." Jazz glanced skyward when several flakes began falling lightly from the overcast sky. "Spike an' Carly says that they're actually a form of water an' when y' look at 'em under a scope, no two snowflakes are the same, even with 'em six sides."

"Like a certain pair of ill-disciplined twins who persistently appear to have far too much energon that should be processed properly and into more constructive means?" the scientist spoke wryly.

Perceptor had been one of the many gladly welcomed reinforcements albeit turned prank victims, courtesy of Wheeljack's "borrowed" bungee cords and the Wrec Room ceiling. He had wondered why Blaster had been spared but later accredited the Communications Officer to being more on the twins' thinking wavelength. Not to mention the 3IC when it came to music, much to many a mech's dismay after the red boom box had been gleefully introduced to the saboteur's sound collection.

Jazz snickered. "That's one way of puttin' it. Chip also added that snow can actually come in wet an' dry."

"Dry?" Powerful processors inside his cranium ran through that little bit of data for several astroclicks. "How is it possible for an element such as water to be 'dry' in this crystallized state?"

"Dry snow as in that if you try to pack 'em like this..." The Porsche demonstrated, packing a large handful into a ball. "...it wouldn't hold its form an' crumble faster than a rustin' engine block that's been under water after a couple astrocycles. Good for folks that use this stuff fer their winter sports--remind me t' show ya some vids later. Wet snow that can compact like this is terrific for building or sculpting. Hound mentioned that some tribes of humans up north even make their homes out o' snow that's been packed tightly into almost bricks, as to quote 'im."

"Hmm... Interesting."

"'Course, there are some downsides." Here, Jazz's voice lowered to a somewhat more somber tone.

"Oh?" Perceptor glanced over at his superior officer, noticing the change in pitch.

A black hand gestured in front of them. "Too long out here without proper protection 'gainst th' cold, humans can become affected with unpleasant conditions as a result. Some of 'em real nasty and not just from freezin', accordin' to what I found on Teletran. Then there's us 'Bots; half of us found out th' hard way that it can really mess up our joints an' servos. Ol' Hatchet wasn't a happy doc when he had to completely replace one of Ironhide's pistons last year cuz some melted snow messed up part of his hydraulics in a leg."

Optic shutters closed and opened again while clasping hands behind his back as he quietly mulled over the additional information. "A seemingly simple and fragile substance upon first examination yet carrying harmful potentials that is not frequently visible nor immediately present. Quite the juxtaposition and dichotomy."

"That's th' funny thing, y'know?" A small smile, tossing his snowball into the air and catching it gently. "First time I saw snow, I thought it was one of th' coolest things here on Earth, next to music. When I read up that some cultures 'ere see snow representin' purity... It made it a little more special, even with th' hazards. I mean, we ain't got any snow on Cybertron, do we?"

"Indeed, we do not."

Despite himself, a part of Perceptor was glad to leave behind the biting precipitation that occasionally fell on their metallic home planet. Even at lower temperatures, it was usually encountered as ice. Here, the rain was harmless so as long it didn't interfered with one's internal systems or accumulated too long in where it shouldn't.

"Some humans see snow in winter as death, the end o' a cycle an' sometimes causin' it. Others see it as 'nother step to the future, 'tabula rasa' as they say an' bein' before spring." Jazz let out a deep exhale, watching his exhaust form visible steam and mingle with the flakes before dissipating into the cold night air. "Me, it's 'nother beautiful thing that makes me real grateful that we crashed landed 'ere. Ya have ta admit, for all its freezin' plain white, a fresh blanket of th' stuff certainly makes things prettier 'round this time of th' year."

The red and blue mech couldn't help but smile at that, absently listening to the soft rustle of snow landing and melting on his warmer frame, while calculating the temperature and timing it took to occur. Now he understood what the substance was after connecting with the familiar word he had heard several times before. For all the complaining some of the Autobots made, such as Gears, Tracks, and Sunstreaker, each had found some aspects of the cold material that they actually enjoyed. Not that any of them would ever admit it out loud, that is.

There was something about watching snow gently drift down that seemed to soothe their battle weary sparks.

Both stood in a comfortable silence, not minding the tiny clumps of snow slowly building on their frames. For a moment, there was a semblance of the quiet peacefulness the two had been fighting so hard to achieve.

A sudden mischievous thought entered the saboteur's mind and not for the first time was very glad for his visor, though he fought to keep his smile from becoming a full blown grin. The scientist had had his head tilted up, looking at the darkened skies and wasn't paying attention.

"On a better note, there's one more good thing 'bout snow."

He was still gazing upwards. "And would you care to elaborate on that?"

Now, the black and white 'Bot grinned madly.

The ball of crystallized water became a splattering cold slush when it abruptly landed on one side of Perceptor's face, causing his optics to widen and thermo-receptors immediately registering the swift biting freeze. His CPU, having not expected the sudden action, went into a temporary overload the same way Prowl's tactical processors did when something completely illogical happened.

"SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

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A/N: While my first reaction to snow might not have been like Perceptor's, I did know the basic facts about it from science classes in elementary school. First time with the white stuff was during spring break on checking out the Grand Canyon and visiting relatives in Phoenix, Arizona. Kid in candy store, indeed. 

See if you can find a reference to another TF fic. Hint: has to deal with communications. With humorous events.

_yuki_ - Japanese for "snow"


End file.
